I flew home from Louisville, KY, recently and the TAFs indicated the weather in the Chicago area would be Marginal Visual Flight Rules (MVFR) until around 10:00 am (MVFR is a sub-category of VFR weather conditions, meaning a cloud ceiling between 1,000 and 3,000 feet and/or visibility 3 - 5 statute miles). After 10:00 am it was supposed to be perfect VFR for the rest of the day. It wasn’t! From experience I know you can never rely on the TAFs so I wasn’t completely surprised. I filed IFR and encountered the low cloud layer just south of Joliet. Most of the airports in the area were reporting MVFR conditions with ceilings around 1,100 or 1,200 feet AGL, but some were IFR as low as 900 feet AGL. Chicago Approach was happy to keep me at 3,000 MSL (in the clouds) until just north of the DuPage VOR and then they vectored me for the RNAV (GPS)-B approach via the initial approach fix (UDZOW). I initiated a 750 FPM descent rate from the final approach fix and broke out of the clouds about a mile east of Wonder Lake in a perfect position to land on runway 27. The winds were about 3 knots and area reports indicated out of the north, but the windsock and our groundspeed indicated they were in fact more like 030°. I opted to land with a slight tailwind instead of circling to runway 9 since no one else was in the pattern at the time. It all worked out perfectly that day. But if I didn’t have an instrument rating or I wasn’t IFR current and proficient, what options would I have had? Option 1 — Fly my original route VFR One option would have been to fly VFR along my planned route from Joliet to the Dupage VOR, then north over Elgin, Algonquin and Crystal Lake to Galt Airport (10C). This would have put me in Class E airspace where you are required to be at least 500 feet below the clouds. Since the ceiling was at about 1,200 feet AGL I would have had to fly at 700 feet AGL over a congested area for more than 50 miles. Complicating the situation, the minimum safe altitudes rule (14 CFR §91.119) dictates that one must remain at least 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within 2,000 feet horizontal distance of our aircraft over congested areas (except when necessary for take off or landing), which meant that this plan would not have been legal. Option 2 — Avoid congested areas Another choice would have been to change my route to avoid the congested areas. This would have taken me west of DuPage before continuing north towards Galt. I think it would be unlikely that I would get a clearance to fly directly through Aurora’s airspace at 700 feet AGL, but could I have asked for a Special VFR clearance you ask? The answer is “no.” SVFR is only an option for VFR pilots when the airport is reported as Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) (cloud ceiling below 1,000 feet and/or visibility less than 3 statute miles). If the clouds had been just a couple of hundred feet lower I could have requested a SVFR clearance through that Class D airspace and flown at about 900 feet AGL, but that would not have helped me along the rest of my route. Option 3 — Fly even further to the west Being familiar with the terrain I know that west of DuPage all the way north to Woodstock is flat and comprised mainly of soy bean and corn fields. Over this type of area §91.119 says we can fly as low as 500 feet above the surface. If I did that I would have been in Class G airspace, which is the airspace from the surface up to, but not including 700 feet AGL. In Class G, the basic VFR weather minimums during the day are 1 statute mile visibility and clear of clouds. This would have been legal, however, in my humble opinion, definitely not safe. At such a low altitude it would have been difficult to avoid hazards such as power lines and towers and insufficient altitude to find a suitable site for landing in the event of an engine failure. Option 4 —Delay my flight Without an instrument rating this would probably have been the best plan. I could have stayed in Louisville an extra day or got as close to my destination as possible in good VFR weather and waited for the weather to improve before flying home. On this day Kankakee (KIKK) would have been the best place to land. You may think an instrument rating is only required when the conditions are IFR, but this was one example when I really needed it even in a VFR situation. Beth Rehm, CFII

FAQs Archive - EAA 932

How Low Can You Go?

Beth Rehm2023-08-28T19:47:50-05:00August 28th, 2023|

You may think an instrument rating is only required when the conditions are IFR, but there are times when it is needed even in VFR weather.

What is the 70-50 rule?

Beth Rehm2023-07-19T09:22:46-05:00July 19th, 2023|

The correct 70-50 rule of thumb recommends if you have not attained 70% of your rotation speed by the time you reach 50% of your calculated takeoff distance, you should abort your takeoff. This rule of thumb can only be used as a method to help a pilot decide when they need to abort a takeoff when it is based on this calculation.

Is all traffic displayed on my cockpit traffic display?

Beth Rehm2023-06-28T13:54:03-05:00June 28th, 2023|

Cockpit traffic displays do not necessarily show all other airplanes in the area. What pilots see depends on how their aircraft are equipped, the avionics in the target aircraft and the available services in between.

What is the purpose of filing a VFR Flight Plan?

Beth Rehm2023-05-27T16:38:49-05:00May 27th, 2023|

A VFR flight plan is a form you send to the FAA with a record of your planned flight, including details such as your destination and route. The sole purpose of this procedure is so that they can initiate search and rescue services if something happens to you en route.

Why does the instrument approach at Galt Airport only have circling minimums?

Beth Rehm2023-04-27T09:32:43-05:00April 27th, 2023|

There are generally three reasons for circling-only minimums; 1, The final approach course alignment with the runway centerline exceeds 30°; 2, The descent gradient is greater than 400 ft/NM from the FAF to the TCH, or 3, The runway is not clearly defined on the airfield.

How Should I Log my Flight Time as a Safety Pilot?

Beth Rehm2023-03-13T14:38:50-05:00March 13th, 2023|

A safety pilot (SP) is a second flight crewmember required by 14 CFR §91.109(c)(1) only when the pilot flying (PF) is flying under simulated instrument conditions. Only the simulated instrument portion of the flight requires two pilots and is therefore the only period for which both pilots could potentially log PIC time. A safety pilot may log PIC time as long as they are acting as pilot-in-command for the simulated instrument portion of the flight. If they are not acting as pilot-in-command they must log their time as SIC.

What are the benefits of VFR flight following and should I use it for cross-country flights?

Beth Rehm2023-02-23T15:48:38-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

VFR flight following means that air traffic control (ATC) is tracking your aircraft in real time on radar systems and will provide you with traffic advisories, safety alerts, vectors when requested, hazardous weather information and assistance in an emergency. This service must be requested by pilots and is only available when controller workloads allow.

How do I pick up my IFR clearance at a non-towered airport?

Beth Rehm2022-12-27T19:38:40-06:00December 27th, 2022|

At some airports you may be able to reach ATC on the ground using the radio frequency listed for clearance delivery or approach control. Another option is to call clearance delivery directly on your phone. You can find the phone number for the overlying Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) listed in the Chart Supplement under in the communications section under “Clearance Delivery Phone.” You can also pick up an IFR clearance after you are airborne, providing you remain VFR until you get your clearance.

How can I minimize passenger distractions while I’m flying?

Beth Rehm2022-10-26T12:35:20-05:00October 26th, 2022|

Passengers can easily distract our attention from our flying duties, especially those that are not familiar with flying in general aviation airplanes. One way to minimize distractions in the air is to plan ahead and prepare for any eventuality before you begin the flight.

Who has the right of way in the traffic pattern?

Beth Rehm2022-09-23T18:20:23-05:00September 23rd, 2022|

The problem with the right-of-way rules is that they not only rely on each aircraft being aware of the other but also that at least one of them is going to take appropriate avoiding action. Whomever has the right of way is essentially irrelevant if either pilot is unaware of the other traffic, and even if you think you have the right of way do you really want to rely on the other pilot to do the right thing?